Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will focus on the Minister of State's proposal to increase the number of women members of governing bodies of the NGBs. I welcome the initiatives the Minister of State has set out. He has set out a two-year target to reach the 40% target. Is he confident that every NGB will reach this target? Will he proceed as indicated and will there be penalties for those NGBs that do not reach it? I do not know if there are any specific governing bodies the Minister of State might like to praise in this context. Would he like to talk about initiatives he has seen where governing bodies have been quite positive in terms of achieving those targets?

A major challenge that is regularly raised is around encouraging teenage girls to participate in sport. The Minister of State knows that we are looking at leaving certificate reform. Are there specific initiatives in terms of what we could do as part of leaving certificate reform and school curricular reform to encourage more young girls to take part in sport? I was very conscious that Sarah Keane remarked recently how girls' uniforms can even be inhibitive factors in terms of girls' participation in sport.

I will signal on the issue around women's rugby. It has been noted that the Minister and the Minister of State intervened rather quickly in the area of women's rugby when very legitimate concerns were raised yet there was a caution about the Minister of State intervening with some of the problems in boxing and offering to ensure there was a mediator. There have been a number of problems with the Irish Athletic Boxing Association. Could the Minister of State comment on that?